No white racist makes you get pregnant when you are a black teenager. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
The Western stereotype of Africa and its black citizens as devoid of reason and, therefore, subhuman was often shared by white master… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
It's no surprise that White people say things when they are together about Black people. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
In America one drop of black ancestry makes you black. In Brazil, it's almost as if one drop of white ancestry makes… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
We have to stop making excuses. One of the things that I'm careful to show is the horrendous effects of institutional and… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
You notice patterns. White guests often are mortified - that word again - when they learn their ancestors owned slaves. But I've… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
First we have to recognize that the cause of poverty is both structural and behavioral. And the first thing about the behavior… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
The only people who live in a post-black world are four people who live in a little white house on Pennsylvania Avenue.… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
But you see, our society is still trapped in this binary, black/white logic and that has had some very positive implications for… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I believe in the law. I think we have a great system of justice. But I do think that system of justice… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I got a letter from this lady of Russian and Jewish descent. She asked me if I was a racist because I… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Very few, if any, first-generation black or white or Asian kids will pursue a Ph.D. They'll pursue the professions for economic security.… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
The biggest surprise for me, without a doubt, was that the first black people who came to the United States weren't the… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I think that we need more economic-based solutions to the problems afflicting the Black community, and I think that that's a way… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
One principle I've been fighting for that doesn't endear me to a lot of people is that black people can be just… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
It's important to debunk the myths of Africa being this benighted continent civilized only when white people arrived. In fact, Africans had… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
It's not white versus black any more, it's haves versus have-nots. Unless the black middle-classes unite to promote the interests of the… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
In Ethiopia, the black people became Christians 1700 years ago, hundreds of years before Northern Europe turned to Christianity... And here, most of the… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
Politicians will not put forth programs aimed at the problems of poor blacks while their turnout remains so low. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
I'm a tech geek. Whenever I read about something new, I think to myself, How can I take this and make it black? — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
I think that the implication of King's assassination has not been fully appreciated. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
I want to be remembered as someone who tried to bring the story of our ancestors to the broadest possible audience. I want to… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
In 1957, when I was in second grade, black children integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. We watched it on TV. All… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
Since the day Martin Luther King was killed, the black middle classes have almost quadrupled, but the percentage of black children living on or… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
Because Lincoln is so closely identified with what it is to be American, everyone wants to claim him, to rewrite his story to satisfy… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
Wherever you go in the history of America, there have been Black people making contributions, but their contributions have been obscured, lost, buried. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
The act of writing for the slave constituted the act of creating a public, historical self, not only the self of the individual author… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
You can say I had a severe case of 'Roots' envy. I wanted to be like Alex Haley, and I wanted to be able… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share
